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As the value of the yen weakens, the euro is gaining strength against the dollar, having a deleterious effect on exports by European companies, according to STMicroelectronics CEO Carlo Bozotti. "We need to have a currency that allows companies in Europe to be competitive in the world," he said Thursday. Meanwhile, ST grew its sales of microelectromechanical system devices and sensors by 19% last year to about $800 million, IHS estimates. The chipmaker claims it has shipped a total of 3 billion MEMS sensors to market.

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STMicroelectronics will help develop next-generation microelectromechanical system devices, employing magnetic and piezoelectric materials, along with 3D packaging, according to this article. The chipmaker is coordinating the Lab4MEMS project, a 30-month, $36 million effort organized by the European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council.

Although STMicroelectronics plans to withdraw from its wireless IC joint venture with Ericsson, the chipmaker will continue to get orders from Apple and Samsung Electronics for imaging and sensor microelectromechanical systems used in mobile devices, ST's Benedetto Vigna says. ST expects its imaging and sensor MEMS sales to increase faster than the 19% annual growth predicted for the overall market in the next three years, he adds.

A microelectromechanical system device is the basis for a gas-flow sensor that is meant to replace mechanical gas meters. The sensor combines a thermal-flow transducer MEMS from Omron with a front-end analog chip made by STMicroelectronics. Omron next month will initiate sampling of the sensor.

STMicroelectronics last year began shipping microphones based on microelectromechanical system devices to Nokia and is supplying such parts to several notebook manufacturers, says Benedetto Vigna, executive vice and general manager of the chipmaker's analog, MEMS and sensors group. ST wants to overtake Knowles Electronics, Analog Devices and Akustica as a top supplier of MEMS microphones within two years, he adds.

STMicroelectronics has introduced the L3G4IS, a dual-core gyroscope in a microelectromechanical system device, said to be capable of user-motion recognition and camera-image stabilization. The device is designed for applications in smartphones and tablet computers.